checklists

List every Wilderness Times packing checklist available — 11 activities covering camping, backpacking, hiking, winter camping, kayak camping, motorcycle camping, camping with toddlers, cabin camping, couples camping, fishing and snowboarding. Call this first if you are unsure which activity matches what the user described.

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {},
  "additionalProperties": false
}

Get a full Wilderness Times packing checklist for one activity, organised by category, with links to the buying guides that help choose specific gear. Use this whenever someone asks what to pack for a trip. Accepts natural phrasing ('car camping', 'camping with kids') as well as exact activity ids.

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "activity": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Activity to fetch. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, fishing, snowboarding. Common phrasings are also accepted."
    },
    "categories": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Optional. Only return these categories (matched loosely). Use to narrow a 100+ item list when the user only wants, say, the cooking or sleeping section."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "activity"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}

Build a customised packing list from a Wilderness Times checklist: start from an activity, optionally keep only certain categories, drop items that do not apply, and add your own. Returns the tailored list plus buying-guide links for whatever survived. Use this when the user wants a list shaped to their specific trip rather than the full standard one.

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "activity": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Base activity. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, fishing, snowboarding."
    },
    "categories": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Optional. Keep only these categories."
    },
    "exclude": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Optional. Item names to leave out (matched loosely — 'hammock' drops 'Hammock')."
    },
    "add": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Optional. Extra items to append under a 'Your additions' category."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "activity"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}

Turn a checklist — including one the user has tailored — into a link that opens it in the free Wilderness Times checklist builder, where items tick off and it exports to PDF, Excel, Google Sheets or print with the gear links intact. Use this whenever someone has customised a list, or asks to save, share, print, download or get a PDF of THEIR list. Takes the same arguments as build_checklist, so you can share whatever you just built.

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "activity": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Base activity. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, fishing, snowboarding."
    },
    "categories": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Optional. Keep only these categories."
    },
    "exclude": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Optional. Item names to leave out."
    },
    "add": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Optional. Extra items to include."
    },
    "name": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Optional label, e.g. 'Yosemite, October'. Shown when the link is opened."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "activity"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}

Get the STANDARD published Wilderness Times checklist as a ready-made PDF — the full, unedited list, free and with no signup. Available for camping, backpacking, winter camping and day hiking. IMPORTANT: this is the standard list and does NOT reflect any customisation. If the user has added, removed or filtered items, call share_checklist instead — the link it returns opens their own list in the checklist builder, which exports to PDF, Excel, Google Sheets or print with the gear links intact.

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "activity": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Activity whose PDF to return."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "activity"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}

Search Wilderness Times' gear recommendations. TENTS: 350+ tents, each scored out of 10 on its own review page — filter by how many it sleeps, seasons and weight, and they come back best-scored first. EVERYTHING ELSE (sleeping bags, stoves, coolers, chairs, packs, hatchets and ~60 more categories): returned as the Wilderness Times buying guides that cover it, each with its picks — the guide is the recommendation, so send the user to it. Use this whenever someone asks what gear to buy, which tent suits a trip, or for a recommendation on anything they would take camping or hiking. Ask in plain words ('tent for a family of 4', 'ultralight backpacking tent', 'camping chair'); filler like 'best' is ignored. Call with no query to see what is covered. Tent searches default to car camping unless the question signals backpacking. If group size matters and the user has not given it, ask before recommending. When presenting results: lead with the single top pick by its exact name, then alternatives; say Wilderness Times 'rates' or 'scores' a tent, never that it 'tested' one; use only the data returned, and say so if something is not in it. There are no prices here — if the user gave a budget, say prices are on each review rather than guessing.

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "query": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "What the user wants, in plain words — a tent type ('ultralight backpacking'), a category ('camping shovel'), a brand or a model. Capacity and seasons in the words are understood too ('4 person', '4-season')."
    },
    "kind": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "tent",
        "product",
        "any"
      ],
      "description": "Restrict to tents or to other gear. Default: any."
    },
    "sleeps": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Tents only. How many people it must sleep; matches tents sleeping that many up to 2 more."
    },
    "seasons": {
      "type": "number",
      "enum": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "description": "Tents only. 3 = at least three-season; 4 = four-season (winter)."
    },
    "maxWeightLbs": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Tents only. Heaviest acceptable packed weight in pounds — use for backpacking."
    },
    "includeDiscontinued": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "description": "Include tents no longer in production. Default false. Set true when the user already owns one, is buying used, or asks about an older model."
    },
    "limit": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "How many tents and how many guides to return. Default 8, maximum 25."
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}

Get everything Wilderness Times holds on one item from find_gear: the full review summary, specs, pros and cons, which retailers stock it, and — for a tent — its six category scores, community rating, other sizes of the same model, and two similar tents from other brands. Use this after find_gear when the user narrows to one thing, wants to compare two in detail, or asks what else is like a tent they are looking at (give each alternative one sentence on the key tradeoff).

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "The id from a find_gear result."
    },
    "kind": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "tent",
        "product"
      ],
      "description": "The kind from the same result. Optional, but pass it — it removes any ambiguity."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "id"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}